There is zero longterm planning in TNA. They build up the Storm-Roode feud for months last year and then have Airies win the belt in the middle of the feud and nonsensically pair him with Jeff Hardy, tarnishing the feud they had been building.

Same thing this year. Nothing against Sabin, but other than a cheap pop I doubt they have much planned beyond that.

You are so wrong about that lol, a lot of wrestlers and front office guys (both there and guys who used to be there) talk about the sessions that creative has to map out several months of stories at a time. You may think the stories suck, but that doesn't mean there's no longterm planning.

On Aries, you simply have to strike when the iron is hot, which Aries was. There are so, so, SO many instances in wrestling where a guy gets SUPER hot, but other plans come first, and by the time they finally pull the trigger on that guy, its way too late. Im glad TNA gave Aries that moment, cause it's the best title win in recent memory and was the best TNA moment of the year. And that nonsensical Jeff Hardy pairing turned into a great feud with a pair of awesome PPV matches.

And Storm/Roode still concluded, and concluded well. It was a blood feud, there's really no need for the belt there.

As far as Sabin goes, who knows, but I highly doubt it was a "ehhhhhh lets give him the belt" moment a day or two before the show

The primary build around the Storm/Roode feud was the belt. I don't see how you can say that wasn't a huge part of it.

TNA is a sinking ship. They haven't built a new star in years. The two primary stars that they market are both over 50. They've been cutting talent left and right, and are only operational because Dixie has a rich father.

It's sad, really, because there should be another option for talent, but there really isn't. TNA is an unwatchable showcase for Hogan and his talentless daughter. I assumed that it had gotten so bad that even you would stop defending it, but I guess not.

The move to give Sabin the TNA Title is questionable at best, a complete mistake at worst. I'm willing to see where TNA goes with this decision in the weeks to come, but on the surface it looks like they made Sabin a TNA Champion in the least convincing manner possible.

That's really the issue here. Sabin returned a few months back, got very little in the way of fanfare or attention on Impact, and now has won the title due to a weapon spot after getting torn to pieces for an entire match. This doesn't make him look like a credible babyface champion, nor did TNA invest enough time in him to make his chase feel truly meaningful. Add in the one week loss of his X Division belt, and Sabin doesn't look like a star, which he should after beating the top heel in the company.

Now, there's plenty of time for TNA to move the belt back in time for Bound For Glory, but right now this looks and feels eerily similar to Austin Aries's capture of the TNA belt without the strong build and without a clear feud for BFG. I don't think this was the time for TNA to try and make Sabin, and I can only hope that they have a plan to play catch up for the lack of chase he had because as it stands, this has "hotshot" written all over it.

I'd be fine if this was a one-time thing, but this pretty much sums up every decision that TNA makes.

Last night's show seemed sort of generic. But anytime Punk and Heyman do promos together, it's magic. Punk is very good at rambling off long stretches of dialogue without stumbling on words. That's not easy.

I also liked it when Cena asked Bryan "Did you notice how nervous Brad Maddox was out there? I think he's following someone else's orders." I like how subtle that is, since pro wrestling is mostly about ridiculous exaggeration (such as Vicki and A.J.'s tantrums).